Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)

[Chap]

Brewed a 5 gal batch on 4/19, tried it yesterday, still pretty tart w/ a huge alcohol bite. Going to let it age for another month and then try it again. I do like the sample better than the Apfelwein I have aging.

 

[slumslum]

My Graff is just about ready to be carbonated. I am going to force carbonate in a keg, then use a beer gun to put the cider into bottles. Does anyone know what PSI/Temp I should carbonate this at?

 

[BoundForBeer]

I have seen some post with people using 3068 for the this but I couldnt find anyone who talked about how it turned out. If anyone tried this already please let me know what you thought of it.

 

[dover157]

New member, first post here. Have been lurking for a while and decided to start a batch of this 2 weeks ago, should be just about ready to bottle in the next few days. If it turns out I plan on buying some local cider in the fall and making this a tradition. I should add that this is my first home brew, been playing with mead for about a year now and thought I would make the slide over to beer...... The only thing I did diffrently was to add some petic enzyme to the AJ the night before I mixed it up (mead habbit, brought it home put in the enzyme then remembered I was not making mead lol.) Will Let you know how it turns out.

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

best of luck, its a good recipe to start the progression into beer. Its easy to manage the small 1 gallon of wort, and be able to get the idea of everythin from it. I still dont know why this recipe isnt on the reccomended list

 

[Clifton]

@SlumSlum, I carbed mine @ 40 degrees and 5 psi. That's a light carb but I like it that way.

 

[mountainman13]

Man I need to make me some more Graff. I done ran out

 

[AWKBrewing13]

I just made this recipe a few days ago but made some changes. I added a cup of brown sugar to the wort to dissolve, 2 crushed cinnamon sticks and 1/2 tsp irish moss at the last 15 min of the boil. I sampled the wort/must and it was amazing. Sweet appley taste with good cinnamon notes and a kind of a weird but good bitter finish. I used 1/3 oz of 6% AA Kent goldings and English Cider yeast from White Labs. Hoping this comes out well.

The yeast called for a higher ferm temp so I left it upstairs which is 70 degrees and its bubbling like nuts! How long do I leave it in primary? How does this finish as far a dry wise? I read somewhere that the DME wont completely ferm out? So will it be semi sweet?

 

[KCBigDog]

I can't wait to brew this! Gonna be my next brew.

 

[Clifton]

AWKbrewing13,
I think mine finished at 1.004 (I don't have my notes with me).

 

[CA-LT1]

mine usually finished around 1.004 also

 

[AWKBrewing13]

Im really new. The closer to 1.000 the drier it will be ?

 

[Clifton]

Im really new. The closer to 1.000 the drier it will be ?

Yes, and also below 1.000. My batch of Skeeter pee went to 0.992. You can use a less attenuative yeast (one that leaves more residual sugar) like White Labs 028 Edinburgh ale.

I recently made a Brown ale recipe with WLP028 that finished at 1.014. The same beer fermented at the same temperature with Wyeast 1056 American ale finished at 1.010.

 

[AWKBrewing13]

Hmmm... does anyone here know anything about English Cider yeast from White Labs?

I actually dont know the true definition or atteunation and Flocculation.

From white labs website

Attenuation: > 80%
Flocculation: Medium

 

[The_Broodwich]

Update:

This is good stuff. Verdict rendered by all who have tried it so far. It's about 6 weeks in the bottle and it still has some alchohol heat and is a bit tart, but still very drinkable. I'd love to see what it's like in another 3 months or so, but I'm not sure I have the willpower. :cross:

 

[AWKBrewing13]

So you can bottle this stuff? without fear of carb bombs?

 

[rycov]

if you let it ferment dry, then only add enough sugar to prime.

 

[Ruffhouse_Brewing]

Making this right now, it is my first attempt at cider. Thanks for the recipe and all the info.

 

[Brewmiser]

Just wiped out a batch of this today but mixed it up & used the yeast(W3068) from a Hefe I just made thinking it may give it a unique twist. I've heard of a lot of brewers making cider with it so I thought why not a graff?

 

[rycov]

sounds great to me. I think it would go well with a heft yeast.

 

[Clifton]

That yeast gets good reviews for use in Apfelwein. So it should be good for Graff as well.

 

[Cozmcphish]

Started a batch of this on July 4th and followed the recipe exactly. Should I follow the times for fermenting and bottling, or have you guys had better results extending those times? Thanks!

 

[rycov]

I know mine got better in the keg after four weeks, but it was really good as soon as it was carbed.

 

[Fanoffermentation]

I have to say that this approach to cider is right on the money. I would recommend floating a hydrometer in your starting juice to see the sugar content and tweak the DME accordingly for your desired alcohol content. My last batch was around 8.5% and it was straight up amazingly drinkable at 4 weeks. Everybody loved it. I'm doing a twist on the recipe with a little malic acid and orange zest, as well as centennial hops (in for 15 min only). Go easy on the AA's for sure. This is a great drink to keep on hand.

 

[thenakedbrewer]

be werry, werry careful with the orange zest, a little goes a long way...just sayin.

 

[rycov]

be werry, werry careful with the orange zest, a little goes a long way...just sayin.

i haven't noticed that. for my wit i used the zest from two oranges in addition to the orange zest that came with the kit. it had some orange flavor, but not anywhere near too much. (maybe its more noticeable in cider

 

[Mishkan]

Throwing this out there, I saw some discussion in this thread about using Saison II from white labs. The consensus seemed to be that it would attenuate too much and ferment out too dry. What about Saison I (565) that one doesn't seem to attenuate nearly as much. I've been wanting to do this Graff but I don't have air conditioning in my apartment so I was hoping on possibly getting away with this by using something that can handle the higher temperatures like Saison yeast.

 

[Clifton]

For my next batch I'm planning on using more DME and a less attenuative yeast (wlp028).

 

[onipar]

Batch size question:

I have to make a 4 gallon batch because I only have a 5 gallon carboy free. Can I simply omit 1 gallon of apple juice and brew the rest of the recipe in the same way, or should I scale the entire recipe down to 4 gallons?

Also, is their a consensus on the best yeast to use? I was planning Saffale US-05. I'd like it to ferment not too dry, and thought that would be best.

Finally, is there a preferred hop variety for this recipe? I have very little brew experience, and therefore I don't have a particular favorite, or even a good idea of what they all taste like.

Thanks!

 

[Jewrican]

Batch size question:

I have to make a 4 gallon batch because I only have a 5 gallon carboy free. Can I simply omit 1 gallon of apple juice and brew the rest of the recipe in the same way, or should I scale the entire recipe down to 4 gallons?

Also, is their a consensus on the best yeast to use? I was planning Saffale US-05. I'd like it to ferment not too dry, and thought that would be best.

Finally, is there a preferred hop variety for this recipe? I have very little brew experience, and therefore I don't have a particular favorite, or even a good idea of what they all taste like.

Thanks!

S05 is fine and scale it down to 4 gallons.

 

[onipar]

S05 is fine and scale it down to 4 gallons.

Thanks! Any good programs or tips for scaling? I was trying to use Hopville's Beer calculus, but I don't think they have a "scale" option, and it's tough to do with beersmith due to the apple juice addition (can't find an option for it).

 

[Clifton]

You don't need Beersmith to scale the recipe for you.
You're good enough, you're smart enough, and dog gone it, people like you!
Divide ingredient quantities by 5 and multiply by 4. Scaled!!

 

[onipar]

You don't need Beersmith to scale the recipe for you.
You're good enough, you're smart enough, and dog gone it, people like you!
Divide ingredient quantities by 5 and multiply by 4. Scaled!!

Ha! Thanks, Mr. Smalley!

I'm an English Professor; I'm allowed to be easily confused by mathematics.

 

[Clifton]

No problem. Don't sweat it. I'm sure you'll make a great graff regardless of your academic tendencies.

 

[Aet2198]

I bottled my first batch of Graff yesterday night, tasted a sample and it was very applely not to tart. :rockin:

 

[aajpnony]

Batch size question:

I have to make a 4 gallon batch because I only have a 5 gallon carboy free. Can I simply omit 1 gallon of apple juice and brew the rest of the recipe in the same way, or should I scale the entire recipe down to 4 gallons?

Also, is their a consensus on the best yeast to use? I was planning Saffale US-05. I'd like it to ferment not too dry, and thought that would be best.

Finally, is there a preferred hop variety for this recipe? I have very little brew experience, and therefore I don't have a particular favorite, or even a good idea of what they all taste like.

Thanks!

if you have a blowoff rig (initially) vs. an air lock, you can do a 5 gal batch in a 5 gal carboy. when fermentation calms down, switch to the airlock and you'll be fine, if you want.

this recipe its very fool proof if you are clean and sanitary. I've done 4 batches, three of them just from dumping juice on top of a gallon our so of an ale that just finished fermenting (with it's respective yeast cake). like magic every time.

 

[onipar]

if you have a blowoff rig (initially) vs. an air lock, you can do a 5 gal batch in a 5 gal carboy. when fermentation calms down, switch to the airlock and you'll be fine, if you want.

this recipe its very fool proof if you are clean and sanitary. I've done 4 batches, three of them just from dumping juice on top of a gallon our so of an ale that just finished fermenting (with it's respective yeast cake). like magic every time.

Thanks! I'm also thinking about putting 4 gallons in the carboy, and the other gallon in a 2 gallon bucket I have.

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

Thanks! I'm also thinking about putting 4 gallons in the carboy, and the other gallon in a 2 gallon bucket I have.

That can be fun, i like to do that with batches, and then do little experiments, dry hopping or different yeast strains, things like that. Just gotta remember which is which when you bottle it all

 

[KCBigDog]

I can't wait to make this. Probably going to be next weekend.

 

[onipar]

That can be fun, i like to do that with batches, and then do little experiments, dry hopping or different yeast strains, things like that. Just gotta remember which is which when you bottle it all

Yeah, I was thinking of adding something to the small batch, but I'm not sure what. I definitely don;t want to over hop it. Maybe some fruit, or spices. I guess a couple cinnamon sticks might be a nice addition.